sighting a lovely Audi Car an R8 at that....

Down Under India is Thunder ~ is what Indians claimed, but for the Finals at Melbourne,  between India Pakistan, a banner screamed ‘Bus Drivers Vs Tram Conductors’.  For those who relish Cricket that was another moment of India’s glory – winning the ‘Benson & Hedges World Championship of Cricket’  in Australia.  ~ and that perhaps was the time when the Country heard more of the word ‘Audi’.  This is no post about Cricket [though reference here is inevitable ~ but more about the wonder car that I happened to see in a petrol bunk at Dr Radhakrishnan Salai in Chennai]

Today, it is a different World, you see so many cars, most luxurious ones, and most of the foreign brands on road on metropolis.  1985 was different, not many had cars…….. and Audi was known only to richest of the elites.   Audi, is a great name, a German brand in automobiles and motorcycles.  AUDI AG has been a majority owned (99.55%) subsidiary of Volkswagen AG since 1966, following a phased purchase of AUDI AG's predecessor, Auto Union, from Daimler-Benz. The company name is based on the surname of the founder, August Horch. "Horch", meaning "listen", becomes "Audi" when translated into Latin. 

The four rings of the Audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create the company. Recently in the United States, Audi has updated the slogan to "Truth in Engineering".

Ravishankar Jayadritha Shastri, now you often see as commentator, anchor, man walking along for the toss and more… was 18 years old when he made his debut, primarily as a left arm spineer blossomed to an allrounder, opening for India.   At times he was dour-defensive, with trade mark chapathi shot.  In that 1985 tournament, India was brilliant – Krish Srikkanth gave good starts with a couple of outstanding innings, Azhar made runs, Kapil bowled well and blasted New Zealand out of Semis, there was young Laxman Sivaramakrishnan [whom Tony Greig called Siva – Rama – Krishna – the destroyer God and we were thrilled hearing that] taking wickets in every match – and then Ravi Shastri scored, outscored others when it came to being declared man of the tournament and winning the prized possession – the Audi car.  It was a great sight as the car went around Melbourne with Indian cricketers seated all over it. 

By some accounts, it was not the same car which Ravi Shastri brought to Bombay and perhaps still owns !  ~ read somewhere that  the car got damaged in the celebrations and was replaced by another… another was that earlier to that Indian Team were in the habit of sharing MoM and other awards but lot has changed since.

Audi is the only connecting reference ~ the one seen by me is Audi R8, a 2 seater sports car, with which you can fall in love at first sight.  In a land, where owning a car is perhaps still a luxury, this car costs anywhere between 1.35 crores to 1.75 crores.  

The R8 car is reported to be exclusively designed, developed, and manufactured by Audi AG's high performance private subsidiary company,quattro GmbH, and is based on the Lamborghini Gallardo platform.  It uses an aluminium monocoque which is built around space frame principles.  It has a V10 engine……….. an engine with 10 cylinders in two banks of five, which produces a distinct exhaust note. One can hear the car whirling around and in a few seconds, only the sound reverberates, the car is gone out of sight !!  Until recently, the V10 configuration was not a common configuration for road cars; a V12 is only slightly more complicated and runs more smoothly, while a V8 is less complex and more economical.

A real marvel at sight…….. – the looks, design and everything is attractive….- and the price makes it perfect dream car..

With regards – S. Sampathkumar